HV Battery Potential Collision Center Lawsuit?

[Midline456]

2013 Model S, 73k Miles. I was involved in a side impact collision and the car was towed to a collision center for repair. It was there for roughly 4 months waiting on parts, and there was "extensive frame damage" to the vehicle. However, they did specifically state that there was no damage to the HV battery itself. A day after getting the vehicle back from them I get 10 different codes saying the battery is toast, and the car died on me. I had it towed back to Tesla who then said it needed a new battery due to a brick imbalance, and needs a new HV battery.

Charging logs show that the car wasn't charged for about 3 months, and for about 2 of those months the battery was not in the vehicle. Obviously they are denying culpability, but any chance any of this could have caused the brick imbalance?

 

[DerbyDave]

The insurance company should cover this. Talk with them. I would always ask the insurance to buy the car from me if it had extensive damage. In this way, there is no waiting. Insurance can then decide if they want to total the car or not after or before it is repaired. Tesla repairs generally take months.

 

[blodg1]

2013 Model S, 73k Miles. I was involved in a side impact collision and the car was towed to a collision center for repair. It was there for roughly 4 months waiting on parts, and there was "extensive frame damage" to the vehicle. However, they did specifically state that there was no damage to the HV battery itself. A day after getting the vehicle back from them I get 10 different codes saying the battery is toast, and the car died on me. I had it towed back to Tesla who then said it needed a new battery due to a brick imbalance, and needs a new HV battery.

Charging logs show that the car wasn't charged for about 3 months, and for about 2 of those months the battery was not in the vehicle. Obviously they are denying culpability, but any chance any of this could have caused the brick imbalance?

Contact the responsible insurance company because this should be added to the loss. I run body shops and often we need to replace 12v batteries on ICE cars that sat waiting for parts and the insurance companies cover it. Your car was drivable at the date of loss and now it is not, so it should be covered.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Yes to the above: contact your insurance company (or the person that hit you insurance company, more accurately) ASAP.

The sooner you do so the better the odds of connecting the battery failure to the accident, which is a MUST.

Do NOT get into the details about battery not being charged, out of the car, etc. Just advise them that the car was not repaired completely and is not drivable.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

Do pray tell--how was this resolved?

We all wish to know. Thx.

 

[PR0FESSOR]

Sadly, with one post, we may never hear back from the OP. I hope he/she was taken care of by the insurance company.

Joe